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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24463804">It's going to rain today</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tallycravens/pseuds/tallycravens'>tallycravens</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Motherland: Fort Salem Oneshots [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Motherland: Fort Salem (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:13:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>729</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24463804</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tallycravens/pseuds/tallycravens</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She would always do the right thing, not the easy thing.</p><p>A Tally Craven oneshot written in honor of Jessica Sutton's birthday (06/02/20)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Motherland: Fort Salem Oneshots [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868044</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>It's going to rain today</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  <i>To Jessica Sutton, without whom we wouldn’t have the living exclamation mark and literal sunshine child, Tally Craven. Happy birthday, Jess! I love you and Tally so very much.</i>
</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tally Craven was four years old the first time it happened. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She and both of her mothers were going out for the day to enjoy nature, and young Tally came out of her room after proudly dressing herself in a yellow raincoat and matching rubber boots.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her mama looked to her with a smile of adoration, but was admittedly confused. “Oh, don’t you look precious. But the sun is out, it’s a beautiful day! Why are you dressed for rain?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s going to rain today, mama,” she predicted sagely.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She should have believed her daughter right then. She sounded so sure of it, and there were many Knowers in their bloodline. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the three Craven women left their home, the day was bright and beautiful. Tally ran ahead, as she often did, wide eyed and curious, like she was seeing everything for the first time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was no sign of the rain to come. Not even a cloud in the sky. Only a little girl’s feeling. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Was that rain?” Her mom whispered to her wife as she watched her daughter climb the small tree in front of them. She thought she felt raindrops. The sky had suddenly grown very dark.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Without much warning, it started pouring. Tally jumped down from the tree wearing a smirk, putting a hand on her hips and glancing at her parents matter-of-factly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“See? I</span>
  <em>
    <span> told</span>
  </em>
  <span> you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>From that point on, they never doubted her again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>General Alder wasn’t listening. She didn’t seem to believe Tally, even after she had insisted over and over that there were civilians on that truck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The truth turned out to be far worse.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She wished she hadn’t believed her. That she had simply dismissed her as a young, inexperienced Knower, instead of disregarding her entirely to carry out her own agenda.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was beginning to lose hope. Tally had been told many stories about the great General Alder and had looked up to her a great deal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They say ‘never meet your heroes’ for a reason.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Despite all the hope she had lost, Tally still believed in justice and doing what was right. She wasn’t going to let her get away with this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The night before she was leaving for Fort Salem, Tally couldn’t have been more excited. Her parents were proud, but understandably worried, by the way she had volunteered for the military. They had been given a dispensation from the Army after Tally’s mama had lost four sisters in combat and had expected that she would stay.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had been difficult to tell them about her decision. Seeing them cry for her made Tally unbearably sad. She reminded them of what an honor it would be for her to serve, and of her desperate need to make the world a better place.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They knew what she didn’t. She was naive and didn’t fully understand what she was getting into. She realized quickly that she had a lot to learn, from combat moves to how to interact with boys, there had been so much she had never been exposed to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She wouldn’t have gotten through it without her unit. Even as her hope began to disappear, she knew she could count on them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tally hadn’t planned it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She made a split second decision for the good of the troops, laying her youth on the line for General Alder. She only hoped that she had learned from her mistakes, that she would do better next time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She knew they needed Alder in this fight. It was a sacrifice Tally knew she needed to make.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even as she felt parts of herself slipping away, she had no regrets. She would always do the right thing, not the easy thing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was far worse losing them. She was crying out for her sisters, trying to reach out for them but being held back. She couldn’t fight it, and as she got further and further away, she could feel her heart breaking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She truly believed they were gone and she had never known such pain. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Later that night, Tally settled into her new home with the other biddies. Her surroundings were strange and the typically enthusiastic girl had become numb to everything.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The unexpected flash of truth woke her with a start, her forehead slick with sweat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tally Craven sat up in her bed, whispering to herself over and over,</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“They’re alive.”</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
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